Final answer:
The advantage of nutritious, fleshy fruits in flowering plants is to attract animals for the dispersal of seeds, ensuring the spread of the plant species. This process of dispersal via fruit consumption by animals is known as endozoochory.
Step-by-step explanation:
The presence of fleshy, nutritious fruits surrounding seeds in many flowering plants provides a critical advantage in the dispersal of those seeds. Option 2 is the correct answer: Fruits attract animals, which disperse the seeds.
As agents of seed dispersal, fruits can have a variety of structures and characteristics adapted to different dispersal strategies. Animals and birds are attracted by the color, scent, or nutritional value of the fruit and consume it, hence aiding in the seed dispersal process known as endozoochory. Moreover, some fruits have structures such as burrs that allow them to cling to an animal's fur, a method known as epizoochory.
Therefore, the advantage of fruits is not to protect seeds from animals or provide warmth for growth, but rather to promote seed dispersal and ensure the spread and success of the plant species.
The advantage of flowering plants producing fleshy, nutritious fruits is that it attracts animals to disperse the seeds. When animals eat the fruit, the seeds pass through their digestive tracts unharmed and are excreted in a new location, allowing the plant to spread its seeds.